Method of folding and bundling large sacks

ABSTRACT

Sacks for collecting trash are individually folded at least twice and stacks of individually folded sacks are accumulated one on top of another to form a stack that is bundled by grouping the plurality of sacks together with two spaced bands of wire or cords extending in one direction circumferentially about the stack. The sacks are removed one at a time from the bundled stack without removing the bands from the remaining bundled stack and without unfolding the sacks remaining in the bundled stack at the trash collecting truck, by grasping the sack to be removed and pulling it in a direction perpendicular to the circumferential extent of the wire.

United States Patent [191 Lundin [111 3,712,018 [4 1 Jan. 23, 1973 [54]METHOD OF FOLDING AND BUNDLING LARGE SACKS [75] Inventor: Erik L.Lundin, Vallingby, Sweden [73] Assignee: Sven Hansson & Co. AIL, Bromma,

Sweden [22] Filed: Jan. 18, 1971 21 Appl.No.: 107,356

Related US. Application Data [63] Continuation-impart of Ser. No.782,108, Dec. 9,

1968, abandoned.

[52] US. Cl ..53/21, 53/26 [51] Int. Cl ....B65b 11/00, B65b 13/02 [58]Field of Search ..53/21, 26,117, 21 FW; 206/65 B, 57 R, 57 A, 83.5;93/93 M; 221/63, 1

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Petersen .-.22 1 I633,292,505 12/1966 Wiseman ..93/93 M 3,333,686 8/1967 Schnabel.......206/57 R X 3,392,825 7/1968 Gale et al ....206/57 A X 3,406,81810/1968 Barnett ..53/3 X 3,416,286 12/1968 Ciccone ..53/3 3,467,2499/1969 Calvert ..206/83.5 X

Primary ExaminerTravis S. McGehee Assistant Examiner-Horace M. CulverAttorney-Burns, Doane, Swecker 8L Mathis [571 ABSTRACT Sacks forcollecting trash are individually folded at least twice and stacks ofindividually folded sacks are accumulated one on top of another to forma stack that is bundled by grouping the plurality of sacks together withtwo spaced bands of wire or cords extending in one directioncircumferentially about the stack. The sacks are removed one at a timefrom the bundled stack without removing the bands from the remainingbundled stack and without unfolding the sacks remaining in the bundledstack at the trash collecting truck, by grasping the sack to be removedand pulling it in a direction perpendicular to the circumferentialextent of the wire.

5 Claims, 11 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJAH 23 I975 SHEET 2 [IF 2 km mw IINVENTOR.

ERIK LUNDI N ATTORNEYS METHOD OF FOLDING AND BUNDLING LARGE SACKS Thisapplication is a continuation-in-part of my application, Ser. No.782,108, filed Dec. 9, 1968, now abandoned.

The present invention concerns sacks, bags, tote boxes and similarcontainers of paper or plastic that are of a size making them useful astrash or refuse bags, and more specifically, it concerns especially themethod of bundling the sacks after their manufacture so stacks of sackscan be loaded onto a trash or refuse collecting vehicle, and theindividual sacks removed, one at a time, without destroying the stackwhich remains as a bundle.

Sacks of the kind involved here are commonly bundled after manufacturein packets of, for example, from 25 to 100, the bundles being heldtogether by bands comprising wire, cord, or the like. These sacks are,as a rule, manufactured from several layers of kraft paper, or ofplastic, and are quite large and cumbersome to handle.

The bundling has hitherto been done so that the sacks are laid off fromthe machine for the manufacture of same, one at a time, on top of eachother, until a desired number has been stacked. The sacks as extendedare unfolded. A group of sacks used to make a single bundle is thenusually folded'twice, pressed flat and tied under pressure.

The prior method, as described above, results in several technically andeconomically noticeable disadvantages, which the invention is intendedto remove.

The greatest of the disadvantages is manifested in that in order to takeout one sack at the location where trash is to be collected, the wholebundle must be untied to be unfolded, one sack removed, then the bundlerefolded and retied and placed on the trash collecting vehicle. Thebundle spreads over an area several times larger than the area thebundle needs for storage when unfolded. Since trash collection vehiclesdo not customarily have sufficient space for unfolding, the bundle isnormally placed on the ground. Some sacks in each bundle are frequentlyruined by this type of handling.

For example, getting out a single trash collecting sack from aconventional bundle is usually done in the manner that the whole bundleis laid on the ground and unwrapped, whereupon a sack is taken out, thebundle is again folded together and thereafter returned to its stowingplace in the trash collecting vehicle. This procedure is highlyinefficient and particularly badduring inclement weather, both withregard to work time and to the condition of the sacks.

A principal object of this invention is to provide an improved way ofhandling such sacks by providing a novel sack folding and packagingarrangement so that one sack can be removed at a time without untying orotherwise unbundling the stack of sacks.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a novelarrangement wherein each sack in the bundle is individually folded twoor more times to only a fraction of its original length before the sacksare brought together. Thereafter the sacks may be stacked on top of eachother and tied in bundles with bands of wire or cords extending inplanes parallel to the sack length. In order to simplify further thetaking out of a sack, the

tension of the bands is sufficiently small so as to allow removal of thesacks, one at a time, by grasping theside edge of a sack to be removedand pulling in the direction of the width of the sack. Each sack ispreferably folded so that the edge containing the socalled thumb grip ison an outer folded sack layer and located back from the adjacent foldline. This minimizes the likelihood of damage to the ends of the openend of the sack during removal of the sack from the stack.

Each sack is preferably also folded so that the socalled thumb grip,which in the illustrated embodiment is in the form of a notch in theupper edge of an outer layer of the folded sack, is fully visible and insome embodiments turned upward'in the bundle. The notch at a the sametime facilitates the opening of the sack after its removal from thestack.

A further object is to provide a novel method wherein the sacks, whenmade of two or more layers of heavy kraft paper, are folded individuallyat least twice with the fold lines being perpendicular to the depth ofthe sack and with the upper and lower sack edges set back from the foldlines in folded sack panels that are on opposite outer sides of thefolded sack. The sacks are thereafter bundled in stacks of at least 25sacks each, with bands circumferentially surrounding the stacks. Thismethod of folding provides for the easiest removal of sacks, one at atime, by grasping and pulling the sack in a direction perpendicular tothe bands, all without disturbing the remaining sacks in the bundledstack.

These and other objects will become more fully apparent from the claimsand from the description and accompanying drawings.

THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 shows a plan view of a finished paper sack as itcomes in finished condition from the sack manufacturing machine; 7 FIG.2 is a side elevation illustrating the first folding along folding line4 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation illustrating a second folding along foldingline 5 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4A is a side elevation illustrating the sack completely folded inaccordance with the invention;

FIG. 4B is a view similar to FIG. 4A but showing another embodimentwherein the edges of the top and folded bottom of the sack are locatedslightly inwardly of the fold lines 4 and 5;

FIG. 5A is a plan view showing the folded sack of FIG. 4A;

FIG. 5B is a plan view showing the folded sack of FIG. 48;

FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic drawing of a machine for folding sacks inaccord with the present invention;

FIGS. 7 and 8 show two ways the sacks may be folded by the machine ofFIG. 6; and

FIG. 9 illustrates a mobile trash collecting vehicle which carries thebundled stacks of sacks for distribution of the sacks, one at a time, asthe trash or refuse is collected at each residence served by thevehicle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring now to the drawings, FIG. I shows a sackof relatively large size, e.g., to 200 liters, that is adapted for usein the collection of trash or refuse. Such a sack may typically be from75 to 100 cm. deep, from 50 to 75 cm. wide when folded flat, and may waya half pound or more. Sacks of this type may be used as replaceableliners in a container for accumulating the trash or refuse from aresidence, and are variously referred to as a sack, a bag, or the like.

In many instances, trash sacks are manufactured from two or more layersof kraft paper. Sacks made of plastic also may be used. Certainadvantages accrue in accord with the present invention when the outerlayer is a tough kraft paper, regardless of whether the inner layer ispaper or plastic. With such paper as the outside layer, the sacks areable to withstand the ordinary wear which trash bags are subjected to,and an outer smooth surface is provided which does not have a great dealof friction or static electricity which would interfere with thehandling of the sacks when bundled in stacks, as described below.

The sack is frequently provided with an exterior bottom reinforcementlayer 2 which serves to hold the sack together and increase itsstrength. Such a bottom reinforcement layer 2 does not need to be foldedwhen the sack is folded in accordance with the present invention. Whensacks are used having two or more layers, the layers are securedtogether with an adhesive around the open end of the sack.

When the sack is manufactured, a thumb grip 1 may be provided at theopen end of the sack. As shown also in FIGS. 4A and 5A, the thumb grip 1may be preformed to extend upwardly so that when the sack is folded, itcan be more easily grasped. Alternatively, and as illustrated in FIGS.43 and 5B, the thumb grip can be thenotch 6 in one side of the sackwhich is customarily found in paper sacks. In either case, the thumbgrip is an important aid in opening a sack after its removal from thebundled stack, particularly when the person handling the sack is wearinggloves.

The sack is received from the sack making machine in the formsubstantially as illustrated in FIG. 1. The sack is folded, as shown inFIG. 2, along fold line 4 and is thereafter folded again, as illustratedin FIG. 3, along fold line 5. By locating fold lines 4 and 5 so as toprovide folded sections of equal length, the folded sack will have anappearance as illustrated in FIGS. 4A and 5A.

In FIGS. 48 and 58, a folded sack is illustrated where the fold lines 4and 5 have each been moved outwardly from the center of the sack so thatthe outer folded layer containing the upper open end, including thumbgrip 6, is located back from the adjacent fold line 4. Similarly, theouter folded layer containing the bottom 3 has its edge 7, asillustrated in FIG. 48, located back from the adjacent fold line 5.

In FIG. 6, apparatus is shown for effecting the folding of the sacks.The sacks 11 are shown coming from a manufacturing machine on a movingconveyor 12. A high speed conveyor 13 grasps the sacks, one at a time,and separates them so that they arrive each individually at a foldingstation 14. A folding knife 15 engages the sack to cause it to come intocontact with folding rollers 16 and 17 and thereby produce the fold line4, as illustrated in FIG. 2. The sack thereafter moves to a position infront of folding knife 18 which engages a sack to cause it to come intocontact with folding rollers 19 and 20 to thereby produce the secondfold along line 5, as illustrated in FIG. 3. The sack then has aconfiguration as illustrated in FIG. 7.

By changing the location of the sack guide path after the sack engagesfolding rollers 16 and 17 sothat it contacts folding roller 22 and theassociated folding knife, the sack will be folded a second time so thatit has a configuration as illustrated in FIG. 8.

In either event, the sack, after being folded two times, is delivered toa storage station 23, where the sacks are accumulated in stacks of asuitable size.

The number of sacks in each stack is determined somewhat by the bulk andweight of the stacks, that is, each bundled stack should preferablycontain as many sacks as can be easily carried by one person. For largersized sacks, stacks of 25 sacks may be all that can be easily handled.For sacks having capacities of, for example, l25 liters, a bundled stackmay comprise 50 or more folded sacks. I

When the desired number of sacks to form a bundled stack has beenaccumulated at station 24, the entire group 26 is transported to aconventional tying or bundling machine 25 which then produces a bundledstack of sacks, as illustrated at 27.

In the bundling of the stacks of sacks together, one or more bands 29,which may be of any conventional material, may be used. Cords, papercovered wires, or the like may be used for circumferentially surroundingthe stack of sacks. The tension in the bands should be sufficient tomaintain the integrity of the bundled stack while being handled and yetnot be so tight as to prevent removal of sacks, one at a time, bygrasping and pulling the sack in a direction perpendicular to the planecontaining a band 29.

It has been found that for sacks of the size useful for the purposes ofthe present invention, the stack of sacks is preferablycircumferentially girded by more than merely one band. Accordingly, inFIG. 6, two bands 29 have been illustrated, which are separated so as tobe located part way between the center and the edges of the folded sacksin the stack. If a folded sack has a depth and length dimensions whichare substantially equal, the girding bands 29 may be oriented so as tolie in the direction either of the width of the sack or the direction ofthe length of the sack, but not both. However, if, as is customary, thesacks have a greater depth than width when folded so as to haveproportions as illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 5, the best results inremoving the sacks one at a time from a bundle without untying ordestroying the bundle, are obtained by having a girding band extendingcircumferentially about the stack of sacks in a direction parallel tothe depth of the sacks. Thereafter, removal of the sacks from thebundled stack is by grasping and pulling the sack to be removed in thedirection of the width of the sack, which direction is perpendicular tothe plane in which the circumferentially extending bands are located.Thus, in the preferred embodiment, the spacing between the bands 29 isapproximately one-third of the flattened sack width, as illustrated inFIG. 58.

With continued reference to FIG. 5B, the upper open end which containsthumb grip 6 is on an outer folded sack layer and located back from theadjacent fold line 4. This facilitates the removal of the sacks from thebundled stack by reducing the likelihood of the sack edge from gettingbound with band 29, particularly where a sack other than the uppermostsack in the stack is removed. Edge 7 on the other outer folded sacklayer is preferably also recessed for the same purpose.

ln connection with sacks folded as illustrated in FIG. 8, the bottomsection of the sack is located inside the fold so that only the upperopen end is part of an outer folded sack layer. In this embodiment, asin FIG. 5B, the upper open end is located back from the adjacent foldline.

In FIG. 9, a trash or refuse collection vehicle is illustrated whichcontains a large hauling bed 30, which may be of conventionalconstruction. Since such trucks do not customarily have a working space,the bundles of sacks 27 are carried in a suitable holder 32, andpreferably near the loading region for the hauling bed 30. In operation,a single sack is removed from stack 27 without untying or unbundling thestack at holder 32, and carried from the truck to a location at theresidence where a frame is available for holding the sack. A sack filledwith trash is removed from the frame and replaced by the new sack andthereafter the filled sack is returned to the truck and hauled to aplace of disposal.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departingfrom the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. Theabove-described embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in allrespects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the inventionbeing indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoingdescription, and all changes which come within the meaning and range ofequivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

l. A method of bundling large sacks for the accumulation and transportof trash to a mobile unit comprismg:

providing sacks having a depth from an upper open end of at least 75 cm.and when flattened awidth of at least 50 cm;

individually folding each of said sacks at least twice along lines inplanes perpendicular to the depth thereof, the folding being such as tolocate the upper open end of each sack on an outer folded sack layer;

accumulating a group of flattened and folded sacks one on top of anotherto form a stack;

bundling said stack with a pair of bands lying in spaced parallel planeson opposite sides of the center line of said stack and extendingcircumferentially about said stack in a direction parallel to the depthof said sack with sufficient tension to maintain said sacks in the stackduring subsequent handling of the stack;

transporting the bundled stack on a mobile unit to trash-collectingsites; and

removing said sacks, one at a time, from said bundled stack withoutremoving said bands from the remaining sacks of said bundled stack andwithout unfolding said remaining sacks, by grasping a sack to be removedand pulling in the direction of the width of the sack whereby theremoved sack may be carried from the mobile unit while the bundled stackremains with the mobile unit. 2. The method as defined in claim 1wherein the pair I sack has a reinforced bottom and double layers ofkraft paper with the layers being secured by an adhesive near the upperopen end thereof, the pair of band members are spaced apart by adistance equal to approximately one-third of the flattened sack widthand the tension of the bands is sufficiently loose as to allow the sacksto be removed one at a time.

5. The method as defined in claim 1 wherein said stack comprises a groupof at least 25 sacks, and said upper open end of each sack beingdisposed back from the adjacent fold line.

1. A method of bundling large sacks for the accumulation and transportof trash to a mobile unit comprising: providing sacks having a depthfrom an upper open end of at least 75 cm. and when flattened a width ofat least 50 cm; individually folding each of said sacks at least twicealong lines in planes perpendicular to the depth thereof, the foldingbeing such as to locate the upper open end of each sack on an outerfolded sack layer; accumulating a group of flattened and folded sacksone on top of another to form a stack; bundling said stack with a pairof bands lying in spaced parallel planes on opposite sides of the centerline of said stack and extending circumferentially about said stack in adirection parallel to the depth of said sack with sufficient tension tomaintain said sacks in the stack during subsequent handling of thestack; transporting the bundled stack on a mobile unit totrashcollecting sites; and removing said sacks, one at a time, from saidbundled stack without removing said bands from the remaining sacks ofsaid bundled stack and without unfolding said remaining sacks, bygrasping a sack to be removed and pulling in the direction of the widthof the sack whereby the removed sack may be carried from the mobile unitwhile the bundled stack remains with the mobile unit.
 2. The method asdefined in claim 1 wherein the pair of band members are spaced apart bya distance equal to approximately one-third of the flattened sack width.3. The method as defined in claim 2 wherein each sack has a multiplelayer construction with the outer layer comprising kraft papersufficiently tough to prevent being torn when removed from the stack. 4.The method as defined in claim 1 wherein each sack has a reinforcedbottom and double layers of kraft paper with the layers being secured byan adhesive near the upper open end thereof, the pair of band membersare spaced apart by a distance equal to approximately one-third of theflattened sack width and the tension of the bands is sufficiently looseas to allow the sacks to be removed one at a time.
 5. The method asdefined in claim 1 wherein said stack comprises a group of at least 25sacks, and said upper open end of each sack being disposed back from theadjacent fold line.